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John Morrison. Founder and Head writer SFF.N

So, it's that time, where I ask the community what they want in regards to content! I do this on a semi-regular basis, and now that we are closing in on 6,000 users and 100,000 posts (!) I thought it'd be time to do this again.

What I want to know is, what format do you want our reviews and news in?

We have a few options (keeping in mind that this is an after hours thing for me, I can't spend 40 hours a week on content (I wish!).

The options are;

A move entirely to video

Shorter written articles and a short (around 5 minute) TL;DR format video overviewing the product

No video (except at events) and a continuation of the article format we have been championing for the past 3 years.

Airflow Optimizer

I am not sure about the question about having videos or not, or the length of the articles. I will discuss that further below.

However, this I can say immediately: DO NOT REMOVE THE NEWS SIDE. This site contains one of the best and well written reviews out there. Yes, sometimes it feels like there is too much text, but the fact that you guys provide in-house measured measurements and dimensions of items, it makes it much, much easier as a reader to later on plan for different builds. To my knowledge, no one else, except perhaps Gamers Nexus, goes into such details about a product.

Now, the videos. My first question is: Do you have the staff for filming and editing video? I have worked with video editing and production, and it is rather time consuming if you want it to be good. As far as I have understood it, most of you admins and main content creators here are also having full time jobs outside of SFF Forum. 5 minutes might be a "short" video, but it takes hours, if not days to complete.

On events (like Computex) it would be more desirable with a video, as it is more interesting to see the actual product in action and from different angles, and when you as reporters seldom have the freedom to just start shooting images from various angles and perspectives.

So I guess what I am saying: Prioritize the well-written articles. Complement with video whenever you feel you have time and resources for it. But making videos is a whole new ball-game that is difficult to get right, and very time consuming. I do not request/desire videos. But I welcome videos if you have the resources for it.

SFF Lingo Aficionado

agree with others... Unless you're able to do a well scripted, well edited, good looking video as those of Hardware Canucks (to me, one of the best in this regards) I see no point in add videos to your workflow. Make videos is time consuming and difficult to do fast and good... But they're a great medium to cover events...

But what I said for the making is true also for the viewer... They're a slower medium compared to picture and text and frequently I watch them at 1.5x on youtube. So unless your production sticks out in quality compared to others (added value), I see no point in adding this to what I daily check and see/read.

I saw an added value for me to read your news and reviews... It's to be seen if there's also an added value compared to "competitors" who do that since a longer time

Standards Guru

As others have mentioned, doing videos takes a fair bit of resources, so before I can vote for that option, I need to know you can actually do a good job. A poorly scripted, poorly filmed and edited video would be WORSE than none at all. Now, certainly it's possible to handle the camera work by yourself and share scripts and video files between the staff, but even JayzTwoCents has staff nowadays, so I question the efficacy of trying to do video with everyone geographically separated.

That said, if you CAN work out the logistics, and have the time and equipment (or the money to buy the equipment and hire specialists), then I do think the SFF space is a good niche in need of attention in the youtube space. One of my favorite tech channel is Level1 since they aren't just another techtube channel, and instead tend to dive a bit deeper into the nuts and bolts and also talk about Linux and Enterprise which no one else does, and I think SFFN could bring a similar fresh angle to things.

SFF Guru

"The most dangerous phrase in any language is 'We've always done it that way.'"

Not dangerous here, @jtd871. What we do WORKS. It provides information in a clear and concise manner, without the need of distracting others (as in audio from a video) and what we have works. There are no complaints. Yeah, videos would be cool. And I like videography. I'd Contribute, if I could, to SFFn video creation. But the regular reviews and news? Keep it that way- because that's how it's been done. It's tried, tested, and proven. (Does SFFn need a premire pro cs6 product key?)

SFF Guru

@Windfall, I actually did vote for the status quo - because it still works for me.

My (long-standing, BTW) tagline is meant as a warning against blindly doing things the way they always have without knowing *why* you're doing it that way. Too many people simply keep on keeping on without knowing why the procedure started. If you know why, then you are better able to make an informed decision about changing things.

For (a contrived) example, a young guy newly out on his own wants to impress a girl and decides to make her his family recipe roast chicken. The recipe calls for cutting off the legs before cooking and putting them in a separate roasting pan with the vegetables. Since that is the way it's always been prepared in his parent's household, that's what he does. Afterward, he calls his mom and asks "Why does the recipe have the legs cut off the chicken before roasting it?" She replies, "Oh, our oven here at home is smaller than most and a bigger roasting pan that could hold the chicken and the veggies at the same time won't fit inside."

I've run into examples of design codes (these are actually getting much better), plan notes or even textbooks that specify how you are to do something without explaining the rationale behind it. (The one that really got me was why rock anchor tendons get prestressed. It's so the tendons always remain in tension, even when the structure they anchor is bearing in compression. I had to call a couple of "experts" before I found one that could tell me.) Once you know the rationale, maybe you can find a flaw in the previous reasoning, or determine that the restriction is no longer applicable (like the too-small oven).

Lord of the Boards

I'd love to see the news aspect being combined with audio/video, like it was in the day of "ye olde podcast". It was an entertaining part, wouldn't require much video/audio editing once everything is setup correctly, and it wouldn't require as much work beforehand as video articles. But ideally it would be discussed by two or three people at once to have that engaged feeling.

Master of Cramming

So I guess what I am saying: Prioritize the well-written articles. Complement with video whenever you feel you have time and resources for it. But making videos is a whole new ball-game that is difficult to get right, and very time consuming. I do not request/desire videos. But I welcome videos if you have the resources for it.

edit for more meaningfull opinion:
one thing that video does very well for me is scale. Pictures doesn't really show how big or small something is, especially since we tend to showcase detail and beauty, angles lens have too much impact here as well.
I'd love to have a 30 second video to showcase scale and relation to other objects. a simple turnaround and a few 'rolls' should be more than enough for me, as I prefer reading the specs and long details rather than watch someone describing it for me. Its more informative and I have less issues understanding the topics. (its a bit more accessible as well, in my opinion)
for example, I'd rather have a 30 second GIF and the written review the way we have now than a 'ok' 5 min video.

King of Cable Management

So, it's that time, where I ask the community what they want in regards to content! I do this on a semi-regular basis, and now that we are closing in on 6,000 users and 100,000 posts (!) I thought it'd be time to do this again.

What I want to know is, what format do you want our reviews and news in?

We have a few options (keeping in mind that this is an after hours thing for me, I can't spend 40 hours a week on content (I wish!).

The options are;

A move entirely to video

Shorter written articles and a short (around 5 minute) TL;DR format video overviewing the product

No video (except at events) and a continuation of the article format we have been championing for the past 3 years.

I would personally like to see the same format, but with smaller videos or GIFs showing product features in action, such as opening of panels on a case. These would hypothetically take less time than a larger video, but would be more useful to the overall content (in my eyes) than a 3-minute video.

SFF Guru

@Windfall, I actually did vote for the status quo - because it still works for me.

My (long-standing, BTW) tagline is meant as a warning against blindly doing things the way they always have without knowing *why* you're doing it that way. Too many people simply keep on keeping on without knowing why the procedure started. If you know why, then you are better able to make an informed decision about changing things.

For (a contrived) example, a young guy newly out on his own wants to impress a girl and decides to make her his family recipe roast chicken. The recipe calls for cutting off the legs before cooking and putting them in a separate roasting pan with the vegetables. Since that is the way it's always been prepared in his parent's household, that's what he does. Afterward, he calls his mom and asks "Why does the recipe have the legs cut off the chicken before roasting it?" She replies, "Oh, our oven here at home is smaller than most and a bigger roasting pan that could hold the chicken and the veggies at the same time won't fit inside."

I've run into examples of design codes (these are actually getting much better), plan notes or even textbooks that specify how you are to do something without explaining the rationale behind it. (The one that really got me was why rock anchor tendons get prestressed. It's so the tendons always remain in tension, even when the structure they anchor is bearing in compression. I had to call a couple of "experts" before I found one that could tell me.) Once you know the rationale, maybe you can find a flaw in the previous reasoning, or determine that the restriction is no longer applicable (like the too-small oven).

I wasn't trying to diss your quote. If I came across that way, I'm truly sorry- but not really, because I got and interesting essay out of it. But, as a guy's bumper sticker on the highway said, "I'll keep my money, gun, and freedom. You keep the 'change'" I'm not against videos (we'd see @confusis's face more often) but replacing the current format? Yeah, keep the "change". Sorry if you are offended by that. I'm conservative.

DEVOURER OF BAKED POTATOES

I voted on keeping the articles as you've been championing so far, but I'd like to add this...

Videos as said previously work great to demonstrate size, proportions and positioning of various components. Being able to add on a short video overview of the product, be it with or without voice over would be a great step forward.

Text articles with complimentary images I find easier to get an in depth look through, you can quickly reference various points of interest, use text to speech and of course it is lightweight and more accessible than a full on video.

Lastly, just waiting to have that podcast up and running, whispering sweet nothings in my ear once again.